1990s Gallery two

 The following pictures are additional paintings that were on exhibition at the Austrian Embassy in Washington, D.C. In case you were wondering at least one newspaper reporter attended the exhibition who I had the chance to speak with. She did a very tiny write-up that the pictures were on display for her paper. She told me that she new of two gallery owners who had looked at the paintings. They told her that the work was not very good and had no interest in exhibiting my work. So that became yet another validation source that I had in fact made the correct decision when I opted for another career other than painting. I like to eat, more than the next guy, and can say it would have been particularly depressing for me to have turned out to be a starving artist. There is more commentary at the bottom of this page. Below is a second set of digitized images of some of my paintings from the 1990s.

treeline painting jpeg
Treeline, 1994.
Sticks and oil on canvas. Size 3' x 2'
Click on painting for a larger and clearer image.





vacuum tubes painting jpeg
Technology Maturation Cycle, 1994. Vacuum tubes in plaster w/paint on luan. Size 4' x 2'.





egg timer painting jpeg
Egg Timing, 1994. Egg timer in paint on luan. Size 4' x 2'
Painting has a turnbuckle on it so that the painting can be tipped upside to run the sand in the opposite direction as well ;-)





landscape winter painting jpeg
Winter Snow, 1994.
Sticks in paint on luan. Size 2' x 3'





plaster still life painting jpeg
Still life, 1994. Auctioned for Charity in Texas 2001.
Plaster and Oil on Luan. Size 3' x 2'





wishing you were here painting jpeg detail of wishing you were here painting jpeg
Wishing you were here, 1994. Size 3.5' x 2' Circuit cards and Oil on canvas.
Detail from center above.





circuit cards painting jpeg
Channeling Franz, 1993. Circuit cards and paint on luan. Size 3' x 2'





money painting jpeg
Money, 1994. Coins and paint on luan.
Size 2' x 3'





st george painting jpeg
St George, 1994.
Plaster, mirror chards and paint on luan.
Size 2' x 4'





photo bob and I embassy jpeg
Bob Connaghan (right) and I setting up the pictures in the exhibition hall


Additional Commentary on the 1990s follows:

Five images up from the bottom there is a painting which is titled: Wishing you were here. That painting was a visual expression of my feelings of loss for my mother's mom, who had passed away a few years prior. When she was alive, I did not write many letters but when I did they were lengthy and very satisfying to me. However after she was gone and I had the desire to write her a long letter about what was going in my life and I could not of course and felt that feeling one gets when the witnesses to our lives are no longer here to share your thoughts and life with. It is typical condition that occurs as we age but none the less that feeling is quite clear at times. The title also refers to the famous song by the band Pink Floyd who wrote that song for a friend who disappeared from their lives and was missed terribly. I painted the pictures in basement at night after work and I used to listen to music on headphones in order to help me focus more sharply on the work. Frequently I painted long into the night, sometimes hearing footsteps above, only to realize I had worked all night and into the following morning. When I painted that picture, I listened to that song over and over again to try and get the feeling from my mind into to the painting itself. Since the painting is dark in color it does not convey digitally very well and most who view it don't like it. I think they don't understand why they don't, and that is because it is a very uncomfortable picture. Dark with one circuit card so removed from the others.

Today I suppose an artist would incorporate the song into the work via multimedia so that the viewers wouldn't have to imagine that extra dimension in their own minds in order to grasp the meaning and emotions of the picture. I guess I just make everyone else simply work harder to understand what is going on in my mind or a painting ;-)

A little further down in the page is a painting that looks horrible called St. George. Because it has so many dimensions it is impossible to capture in a photo. That picture was made as a homage to George Shultz, a co-worker and friend of mine who actually fabricated all of the luan platforms that I painted on in those days. He made the laun platforms with embedded frames that were the best surfaces I have ever had the pleasure to paint on. He asked nothing for his time and efforts. Today I still feel as guilty, as I did then, for all of his hard work and so the picture was a homage that was asking the question of what had St. George unleashed by enabling me with his actions. It was a parallel to the myth of the same title. Meaning after St. George had sleighed all the dragons there were none anymore and the world, albiet mythically became a very different place. That is why I tilted the mirror chards inward, so that I saw myself as I viewed the picture.

Finally I want to say here that I took almost a complete year where I interacted very little with my family in order to make the paintings for that exhibition. My wife, who is a saint, took on all the burdens of running our family and household that year. To her I would like to say thank you. I had high hopes back then that the work would lead to a different career and life. Obviously it did not, but the responsibility for this is mine and has never been hers. She supported all of the moves from place to place and choices I made by making it easier for me to do all of them. She never asked for anything in return. So I am intensely grateful that she has allowed me to share our lives together. I can't imagine for a moment what my life would have been like had she not been there to keep all of us going. When you are young these important things are not very well understood. I see them much clearer today.

Back to Homepage or more galleries viewing: 2000s ,- Postcards to Vincent,- 1990s ,- More 90s ,- 1980s ,- 80s Collage ,- 1970s , Paper Works

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